Marshal Ausberry, President of SBC’s National African American Fellowship, to Meet With Seminary Presidents to Discuss Race After Their Statement Denouncing Critical Race Theory

Marshal Ausberry is president of the National African American Fellowship of the Southern Baptist Convention, first vice president of the SBC and pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Fairfax Station, Virginia. | Facebook/Marshal L. Ausberry

The head of the National African American Fellowship of the Southern Baptist Convention says he will soon meet with the leaders of the denomination’s most prominent seminaries to “discuss our concerns” regarding their recent statement denouncing racism but declaring critical race theory incompatible with their beliefs.

Marshal Ausberry said in a statement: “I have been in conversations with SBC leadership and with the leadership of the Council of Seminary Presidents of the SBC. We will be meeting in the near future to further discuss our concerns that affect all ethnic groups in the SBC about the breadth and depth of their recent statement and published comments. As brothers in Christ, we of all people should be able to dialogue and resolve all of our concerns.”

Critical race theory, which has been a lightning rod for debate and division in evangelical circles in recent years, is presented as an ideological framework that some legal scholars argue interrogates the relationship between race, law, and power.